beXnlog

Sweet Tea time

I agree with Southerners about iced tea served in the North. Now, i don't consider myself a Southerner even though everyone north of Maryland considers Virginia "the South." I also surely didn't grow up drinking sweetened iced tea, save for Lipton iced tea mix! But the Southerners are right to say that "iced tea" should be homemade and pre-sweetened. Most restaurants in the Northeast offer unsweetened, tannic iced tea that needs 14 packets of sugar to sweeten, half of which doesn't even fully dissolve.

I love sweet tea. It's so refreshing and delicious. I've been making a version adapted from here online. It's very simple although i changed it for 3 main reasons:

1) My iced tea is never cloudy so i don't find the baking soda necessary. It's always a beautiful clear deep brown so i don't know how it could cloud. Some people say baking soda takes out the "bitterness" in tea. I don't get this either since my cheapy Lipton bags haven't brewed up bitter, even with such a long steep time!

2) 2 cups of sugar for 2 quarts of liquid, even the 1.5 cups minimum the author listed was TOO SWEET. I love sugar. I can handle sweet - ask anyone who knows me how much candy and dessert i can chow down - but the amount of sugar listed was so sweet, i couldn't even taste the tea! I first made it with 1.5 cups, which was drinkable but barely. The next batch was 1 cup = totally good! For the third batch however, 1/2 cup of sugar was just right for me. It's still sweet but the tea taste shines through more clearly. For special occasions i'll use 3/4 cup, but for regular batches i think 1/2 cup is good.

3) Sweet tea = good use for crazy mint garden bounty.


be's Philadelphia Sweet Tea

6 black tea bags (i used Lipton*)
1/2 cup white sugar
8 cups water
a 2 cup glass measuring cup (helpful)
fresh mint sprigs and a little extra sugar (optional)

Boil 2 cups of water. Pour the water over the tea bags in the glass measuring cup. Let steep for 15 minutes. Lift out the tea bags (don't squeeze them) and compost/discard. Pour the strong tea into a 2 quart pitcher. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Add 6 cups of cold water and stir. Refrigerate until cold and serve. For sweet mint tea, i like to crush a few mint sprigs with a little sugar in the bottom of each glass and pour the cold tea over it.

* I don't use my good black tea for this because it's not necessary. With a cold beverage, all the aroma of good tea is dulled, plus think of all the sugar you're adding! I hear that Luzianne brand tea bags are the way to go, so i'll be sure to make a batch once i get somewhere that actually stocks it! Lastly, i don't want to deal with "cold brew" and "family size" bag complications. Who doesn't have some regular black tea bags laying around?

posted by beXn @ 9:25 AM